Outdoor yoga session planned for B.C. legislature lawn

A group yoga session is set for next week on the lawn of the B.C. Legislature to mark the fourth International Day of Yoga.

The day was acclaimed at the United Nations in 2014 following a campaign by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The session is set to take place on Thursday, June 21, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the legislature in Victoria, and will be hosted by Nirmala Raniga, founder of Chopra Wellness and Addiction Center in Squamish.

British Columbians might remember a similar outdoor group yoga practice organized in 2015 to mark the International Day of Yoga on the Burrard Bridge in Vancouver.

Then-premier Christy Clark had championed the event, called “Om the Bridge,” which would have closed the crossing for several hours for a hundreds of would-be yogis on what was also National Aboriginal Day and Father’s Day.

Clark was criticized for choosing to celebrate yoga rather than aboriginal peoples, especially with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission releasing its findings on Canada’s residential schools earlier that month.

A few days after she announced the event, Clark Tweeted she would no longer attend and did not provide a reason why.